Alma+Swanson

On July 11, 1904, Alma Swanson, 24-year-old wife of Morris Swanson, died at her Chicago home from an abortion performed there that day. [|Midwife] Constance Marie Anderson was arrested and held by Coroner's Jury on July 15.

Note, please, that with general public health issues such as doctors not using proper aseptic techniques, lack of access to blood transfusions and antibiotics, and overall poor health to begin with, there was likely little difference between the performance of a legal abortion and illegal practice, and the aftercare for either type of abortion was probably equally unlikely to do the woman much, if any, good. For more about abortion and abortion deaths in the first years of the 20th century, see [|Abortion Deaths 1900-1909].

For more on pre-legalization abortion, see [|The Bad Old Days of Abortion] Sources:


 * [|Homicide in Chicago Interactive]

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